Fahrenheit 9/11

I went to see this movie, this evening with L. I find my emotions varying from increduality to shock, dismay to horror. I sat up in 2001 when Florida declared Al Gore president, and then tuned out thinking that everything was going to be fine. When I saw on the news that they had changed their minds I was surprised, shocked and then resigned to the fact. I watched the recounts come in, I watched the truth getting lost. Why do I care? You may ask. I care because of two reasons really. One reason is that, like it or not, America is the biggest power in the world right now, and anything done in the name of America can not help but affect us too. The other reason is that I have family in America. I have one cousin who is old enough to be drafted and an Uncle who is ex-army. If you know the way in which conscription works, should it ever happen there, then you will know why I'm glad they have surnames beginning with 'H'. The Micheal Moore film hasn't made me question our government much more than I already was. It's more than just the war here. But it did make me wonder, did our government know all the things Bush's governments knew? Did 'Tony' know that there was no link between Iraq and Al Q'aida? I shudder at the thought, but I think he probably did. I am both worried and saddened by this thought. It saddens me also to think that I believe that the other leaders must have had some idea, must have known something. The one man in our country who dared speak out against the "intelligence" is now dead. I hope Moore has good bodyguards! I believe that people want peace and democracy. I don't think many people know how to exist in a truly fair world though - if you are equal to everyone, who is in charge. A (mis)quote of the much maligned Iron Lady (I think): "We are all equal, some of us are just more equal than others" And a better mis-quote which I also happen to agree with, "The only person fit to rule the universe is the one man who doesn't want to" (D.Adams) I know it's mis quoted, but I've got the meaning here. So, my closing point: I hope that J.Kerry and J.Edwards can win the next election, and that their rightful victory will not be snatched from them by media manipulation. And I hope that Kerry will be able to make Blair (or whoever by then) see sense, and that this whole fiasco will be fixed. Withdrawing from Iraq is not the answer there any more than sending troops in in the first place was. But something needs to be done. I don't pretend to know what, but something. If I were religious, I would say "God help us", but I'm not convinced that any God out there could, even if s/he existed and wanted to. We've got ourselves into the state that we're in - I just have to hope we can get ourselves out of it before we have an all-out religious war on our hands. If you have a God, pray to him/her that they can help us see sense. If you don't then you should watch this film. But shut your eyes during the beheading - it's going to give me nightmares. I challenge you to see it and not be moved in some way.